Comments: Thanks, Tyson. The route descriptions and names here were based on info from the "Rock Climbing Colorado" Falcon guidebook by Stuart Green. I have brought up the discrepancies with Ben Schmitt, and it does sound like his new guidebook is likely to be correct on these details, as he reviewed the info for these routes with Bill Schmausser, part of the FA party. Updating route details accordingly.

Comments: Thanks, Kenny. The route descriptions and names here were based on info from the "Rock Climbing Colorado" Falcon guidebook by Stuart Green. I have brought up the discrepancies with Ben Schmitt, and it does sound like his new guidebook is likely to be correct on these details, as he reviewed the info for these routes with Bill Schmausser, part of the FA party. Updating route details accordingly.

Comments: Thanks, Kenny. The route descriptions and names here were based on info from the "Rock Climbing Colorado" Falcon guidebook by Stuart Green. I have brought up the discrepancies with Ben Schmitt, and it does sound like his new guidebook is likely to be correct on these details, as he reviewed the info for these routes with Bill Schmausser, part of the FA party. Updating route details accordingly.

Comments: This route is amazing! A 50-foot hand crack followed by a 50-foot steep pocketed dihedral?! So classic! It has a very adventurous feel, and is quite uncharacteristic of Ten Sleep with the pure crack start.

I'd have to agree that the crack is probably 5.9, despite it feeling much harder to people without crack climbing experience.

The moves and position up high are really stellar. To echo the sentiment: YOU MUST DO THE UPPER PART!!

Comments: I was surprised to see that this doesn't have more stars. The position is great, the movement interesting and varied, and it's one of those improbable lines that looks harder than it is. Holds appear right where you need them. Now one of my favorite 9s at Eldo. The scrambly start does detract a bit, but the upper part is so clean and aesthetic, I still give it 4 stars.

As far as difficulty, no way is this any harder than 5.9. Other Eldo 9+s are WAY harder (such as Hair City, P1 of Rincon, ... more >>

Comments: I agree with a previous comment that something must have broken off if this was once a 5.10 start. The start is quite bouldery and requires technical stemming out on thin pebbles to reach the left hand hold. Then pulling over the bulge and getting the right-hand gaston is also no gimme. Solid 5.11 start. The 10c to the left (Children of a Lesser Grade) is much easier.

Also note this is definitely an R-rated climb if you lead it on gear. There are maybe 2-3 placements in the middle of the c... more >>

Comments: I've climbed this a couple of times, and while it's a good route, I have to agree with the bolt line being too far left. The crack is clearly the natural line here, and the bolt line is far enough left to make it feel awkward staying in the crack. I felt constantly pulled out of the crack towards face moves farther left in order to move back to the bolt line. Perhaps the FA party was trying to offer 2 variations with a single bolt line? Or perhaps as Amato said they were trying to avoid cont... more >>

Comments: FYI, this is an old school 5.9 - a flaring and somewhat polished crack with cruxy and committing moves right off the deck above a ledge. You'll want to be a solid 5.9 leader with good crack skills to tackle this one.

Comments: Note that there is now a nicely cairned trail that skirts the right hand side of the talus field as you're going up to Coliseum. This seems much more solid than tackling the talus field head on.

Comments: Note that this route has a standard 2-bolt anchor now (versus the single bolt that Fred Knapp mentions in 'Shelf Road Rock').

Also note that the start to this climb is somewhat awkward and insecure - from the top of an angled boulder. Seems to me like this route could have been started from the ground on the more Easterly aspect of the rock instead of atop the awkward boulder, but hey, that's just me.

Comments: Climbed this last week and absolutely loved the 3rd pitch. The first 2 pitches are extremely dirty. Maybe it just needs more traffic. P3 is definitely worth the time & effort. The heady crux roof up high is awesome.

Comments: This is a really long route and has great exposure and views. I thought it felt more like 5.9. BEWARE LOOSE COBBLES on this one. At one point my foothold blew out instantaneously and I took a 25-footer. YIKES. If it weren't for the dirt and loose cobbles I would have given this 3 or 4 stars. Perhaps it will clean up a bit with some traffic. Also note that I was *just* able to lower to the ground with a 60. Just a foot or so of slack to spare on each side.

Comments: I recommend avoiding this route. I climbed it last week, pulled off a grapefruit-sized cobble in the runout section high up, and barely hung on to avoid a huge whipper. This thing is DIRTY and has lots of loose cobbles. Beware!

Comments: I can't bring myself to give this one more than 1 star. The route felt quite inconsistent with a dirty slab start (never did figure out the mantle), followed by a slightly more featured section, ultimately followed by a polished, right-angling, overhanging crux that felt very sandbagged for the grade. It just didn't seem to flow well for us. There is great scenery from the West Side of The Arena, but be prepared for dirty rock and stiff grades on the left side of this wall.

Comments: I wanted to emphasize the presence of loose rock on this one. We tried the documented route (climber's left) and also the gash in the middle of the formation and decided to back off after I kicked off a giant block. Be careful - this thing is a chosspile!